II 

Calendar No. 144 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 916 

[Report No. 112–64] 

To facilitate appropriate oil and gas development on Federal land and waters, 

to limit the dependence of the United States on foreign sources of 

oil and gas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 9, 2011 

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

AUGUST 30 (legislative day, AUGUST 2), 2011 

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of August 2, 2011, by 

Mr. BINGAMAN, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To facilitate appropriate oil and gas development on Federal 

land and waters, to limit the dependence of the United 

States on foreign sources of oil and gas, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Oil and Gas Facilitation Act of 2011’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary. 

TITLE I—OIL AND GAS LEASING 

Sec. 101. Extension of Oil and Gas Permit Processing Improvement Fund. 

Sec. 102. Facilitation of coproduction of geothermal energy on oil and gas 

leases. 

TITLE II—OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

Sec. 201. Comprehensive inventory of outer Continental Shelf resources. 

Sec. 202. Alaska OCS permit processing coordination office. 

Sec. 203. Phase-out of mandatory Outer Continental Shelf deep water and deep 

gas royalty relief for future leases. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 301. Facilitation of Alaska natural gas pipeline. 

Sec. 302.301. Exemption of trans-Alaska oil pipeline system from certain requirements. 

Sec. 303.302. Permits for natural gas pipeline in Denali National Park and 

Preserve. 

Sec. 303. Energy information administration reporting on Iranian imports of refined petroleum products. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec8 retary of the Interior. 

9 TITLE I—OIL AND GAS LEASING 

10 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF OIL AND GAS PERMIT PROC11 ESSING IMPROVEMENT FUND. 

12 Section 35(c) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

13 191(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated from the 

3 Fund, or to the extent adequate funds in the Fund 

4 are not available from miscellaneous receipts of the 

5 Treasury, for the coordination and processing of oil 

6 and gas use authorizations and for oil and gas in7 spection and enforcement on onshore Federal land 

8 under the jurisdiction of the Pilot Project offices de9 scribed in section 365(d) of the Energy Policy Act 

10 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15924(d)) $20,000,000 for each 

11 of fiscal years 2016 through 2020, to remain avail12 able until expended.’’. 

13 SEC. 102. FACILITATION OF COPRODUCTION OF GEO14 THERMAL ENERGY ON OIL AND GAS LEASES. 

15 Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 

16 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(4) LAND SUBJECT TO OIL AND GAS LEASE.— 

19 Land under an oil and gas lease issued pursuant to 

20 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or 

21 the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 

22 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) that is subject to an approved 

23 application for permit to drill and from which oil 

24 and gas production is occurring may be available for 


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1 leasing under subsection (c) by the holder of the oil 

2 and gas lease— 

3 ‘‘(A) on a determination that— 

4 ‘‘(i) geothermal energy will be pro5 duced from a well producing or capable of 

6 producing oil and gas; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the public interest will be served 

8 by the issuance of such a lease; and 

9 ‘‘(B) in order to provide for the coproduc10 tion of geothermal energy with oil and gas.’’. 

11 TITLE II—OUTER CONTINENTAL 

12 SHELF 

13 SEC. 201. COMPREHENSIVE INVENTORY OF OUTER CONTI14 NENTAL SHELF RESOURCES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 357 of the Energy Policy 

16 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15912) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) by striking the first sentence of the 

19 matter preceding paragraph (1) and inserting 

20 the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall conduct a 

21 comprehensive inventory of oil and natural gas 

22 (including executing or otherwise facilitating 

23 seismic studies of resources) and prepare a 

24 summary (the latter prepared with the assist25 ance of, and based on information provided by, 


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1 the heads of appropriate Federal agencies) of 

2 the information obtained under paragraph (3), 

3 for the waters of the United States Outer Con4 tinental Shelf (referred to in this section as the 

5 ‘OCS’) in the Atlantic Region, the Eastern Gulf 

6 of Mexico, and the Alaska Region.’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘3-D’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘2-D and 3-D’’; and 

10 (ii) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

11 (C) by striking paragraphs (3) through (5) 

12 and inserting in the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) use existing inventories and mapping of 

14 marine resources undertaken by the National Ocean15 ographic and Atmospheric Administration and with 

16 the assistance of and based on information provided 

17 by the Department of Defense and other Federal 

18 and State agencies possessing relevant data, and use 

19 any available data regarding alternative energy po20 tential, navigation uses, fisheries, aquaculture uses, 

21 recreational uses, habitat, conservation, and military 

22 uses.’’; and 

23 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall carry 

2 out the inventory and analysis under subsection (a) in 3 

3 phases, with priority given to all or part of applicable plan4 ning areas of the outer Continental Shelf— 

5 ‘‘(1) estimated to have the greatest potential for 

6 energy development in barrel of oil equivalent; and 

7 ‘‘(2) outside of any leased area or area sched8 uled for leasing prior to calendar year 2011 under 

9 any outer Continental Shelf 5-year leasing program 

10 or amendment to the program under section 18 of 

11 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

12 1344). 

13 ‘‘(c) PLAN.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the 

16 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy 

17 and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Com18 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep19 resentatives a report that provides a plan for exe20 cuting or otherwise facilitating the seismic studies 

21 required under this section, including an estimate of 

22 the costs to complete the seismic inventory by region 

23 and environmental and permitting activities to facili24 tate expeditious completion. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FIRST PHASE.—Not later than 2 years 

2 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the 

3 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describ4 ing the results of the first phase of the inventory 

5 and analysis under subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT PHASES.—Not later than 2 

7 years after the date on which the report is submitted 

8 under paragraph (2) and 2 years thereafter, the Sec9 retary shall submit to Congress a report describing 

10 the results of the second and third phases, respec11 tively, of the inventory and analysis under subsection 

12 (a). 

13 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—A report sub14 mitted under paragraph (2) or (3) shall be— 

15 ‘‘(A) made publicly available; and 

16 ‘‘(B) updated not less frequently than once 

17 every 5 years.’’. 

18 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO 5-YEAR PROGRAM.—The re19 quirement that the Secretary carry out the inventory re20 quired by the amendment made by subsection (a) shall not 

21 be considered to require, authorize, or provide a basis or 

22 justification for delay by the Secretary or any other agency 

23 of the issuance of any outer Continental Shelf leasing pro24 gram or amendment to the program under section 18 of 


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1 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), 

2 or any lease sale pursuant to that section. 

3 (c) PERMITS.—Nothing in this section or an amend4 ment made by this section— 

5 (1) precludes the issuance by the Secretary of 

6 a permit to conduct geological and geophysical explo7 ration of the outer Continental Shelf in accordance 

8 with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

9 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) and other applicable law; or 

10 (2) otherwise alters the requirements of applica11 ble law with respect to the issuance of such a permit 

12 or any other activities undertaken by the Secretary 

13 in connection with the inventory. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

16 to be available until expended without fiscal year limita17 tion— 

18 (1) $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 

19 through 2017; and 

20 (2) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 

21 through 2022. 

22 SEC. 202. ALASKA OCS PERMIT PROCESSING COORDINA23 TION OFFICE. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

25 a regional joint outer Continental Shelf lease and permit 


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1 processing office for the Alaska outer Continental Shelf 

2 region. 

3 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

6 shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for 

7 the purposes of carrying out this section with— 

8 (A) the Secretary of Commerce; 

9 (B) the Chief of Engineers; 

10 (C) the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency; and 

12 (D) any other Federal agency that may 

13 have a role in permitting activities. 

14 (2) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 

15 shall request that the Governor of Alaska be a signa16 tory to the memorandum of understanding. 

17 (c) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED STAFF.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

19 the date of the signing of the memorandum of un20 derstanding under subsection (b), each Federal sig21 natory party shall, if appropriate, assign to the of22 fice described in subsection (a) an employee who has 

23 expertise in the regulatory issues administered by 

24 the office in which the employee is employed relating 


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1 to leasing and the permitting of oil and gas activities 

2 on the outer Continental Shelf. 

3 (2) DUTIES.—An employee assigned under 

4 paragraph (1) shall— 

5 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

6 of assignment, report to the office described in 

7 subsection (a); 

8 (B) be responsible for all issues relating to 

9 the jurisdiction of the home office or agency of 

10 the employee; and 

11 (C) participate as part of the applicable 

12 team of personnel working on proposed oil and 

13 gas leasing and permitting, including planning 

14 and environmental analyses. 

15 (d) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—For the purposes of co16 ordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations 

17 for the Alaska outer Continental Shelf region, the Sec18 retary may authorize the expenditure or transfer of such 

19 funds as are necessary to— 

20 (1) the Secretary of Commerce; 

21 (2) the Chief of Engineers; 

22 (3) the Administrator of the Environmental 

23 Protection Agency; 

24 (4) any other Federal agency having a role in 

25 permitting activities; and 


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1 (5) the State of Alaska. 

2 (e) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section af3 fects— 

4 (1) the operation of any Federal or State law; 

5 or 

6 (2) any delegation of authority made by the 

7 head of a Federal agency for employees that are as8 signed to the coordination office. 

9 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2022, 

12 to remain available until expended. 

13 SEC. 203. PHASE-OUT OF MANDATORY OUTER CONTI14 NENTAL SHELF DEEP WATER AND DEEP GAS 

15 ROYALTY RELIEF FOR FUTURE LEASES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sections 344 and 345 of the En17 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15904, 15905) are 

18 repealed. 

19 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall not be 

20 required to provide for royalty relief in the lease sale terms 

21 beginning with the first lease sale held on or after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act for which a final notice of sale 

23 has not been published. 


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1 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 SEC. 301. FACILITATION OF ALASKA NATURAL GAS PIPE3 LINE. 

4 Section 116 of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act 

5 (15 U.S.C. 720n) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 

7 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting be8 fore the period at the end the following: ‘‘, ex9 cept that a holder of a certificate may request 

10 the Secretary to extend the period to issue Fed11 eral guarantee instruments for not more than 

12 180 days following the date of resolution of any 

13 reopening, contest, or other proceeding relating 

14 to the certificate’’; and 

15 (B) in the second sentence, by inserting 

16 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, or 

17 connecting to pipeline infrastructure capable of 

18 delivering commercially economic quantities of 

19 natural gas to the continental United States’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 

22 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

23 (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 

24 (C) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), 

25 by striking ‘‘and completion guarantees’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by striking 

2 ‘‘$18,000,000,000’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘$30,000,000,000’’; 

4 (4) in subsection (d)— 

5 (A) in the first sentence of paragraph (1), 

6 by inserting before the period at the end the 

7 following: ‘‘, except that an issued loan guar8 antee instrument shall apply to not less than 80 

9 percent of project costs unless by previous con10 sent of the borrower’’; and 

11 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘An eli12 gible’’ and inserting ‘‘A’’; and 

13 (5) in subsection (g)— 

14 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 

15 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

16 (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 

17 (C) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), 

18 by inserting before the period at the end the 

19 following: ‘‘under subsection (a)(3), including 

20 direct lending from the Federal Financing 

21 Bank of all or a part of the amount to the hold22 er, in lieu of a guarantee’’. 


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1 SEC. 302.301. EXEMPTION OF TRANS-ALASKA OIL PIPELINE 

2 SYSTEM FROM CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS. 

3 The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (43 

4 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 208. EXEMPTION OF TRANS-ALASKA OIL PIPELINE 

7 SYSTEM FROM CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

9 (b), no part of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline system shall 

10 be considered to be a district, site, building, structure, or 

11 object for purposes of section 106 of the National Historic 

12 Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f), regardless of whether 

13 all or part of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline system may oth14 erwise be listed on, or eligible for listing on, the National 

15 Register of Historic Places. 

16 ‘‘(b) INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), 

18 the Secretary of the Interior may identify up to 3 

19 sections of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline system that 

20 possess national or exceptional historic significance, 

21 and that should remain after the pipeline is no 

22 longer used for the purpose of oil transportation. 

23 ‘‘(2) HISTORIC SITE.—Any sections identified 

24 under paragraph (1) shall be considered to be a his25 toric site. 


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1 ‘‘(3) VIEWS.—In making the identification 

2 under this subsection, the Secretary shall consider 

3 the views of— 

4 ‘‘(A) the owners of the pipeline; 

5 ‘‘(B) the State Historic Preservation Offi6 cer; 

7 ‘‘(C) the Advisory Council on Historic 

8 Preservation; and 

9 ‘‘(D) the Federal Coordinator for Alaska 

10 Natural Gas Transportation Projects. 

11 ‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE, RESTORATION, 

12 AND REHABILITATION ACTIVITIES.—Subsection (b) does 

13 not prohibit the owners of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline 

14 system from carrying out construction, maintenance, res15 toration, or rehabilitation activities on or for a section of 

16 the system described in subsection (b).’’. 

17 SEC. 303.302. PERMITS FOR NATURAL GAS PIPELINE IN 

18 DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE. 

19 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) APPURTENANCE.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘appur22 tenance’’ includes cathodic protection or test 

23 stations, valves, signage, and buried commu24 nication and electric cables relating to the oper25 ation of high-pressure natural gas transmission. 


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1 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘appur2 tenance’’ does not include compressor stations. 

3 (2) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means the Denali 

4 National Park and Preserve in the State of Alaska. 

5 (b) PERMIT.—The Secretary may issue right-of-way 

6 permits for— 

7 (1) a high-pressure natural gas transmission 

8 pipeline (including appurtenances) in non-wilderness 

9 areas within the boundary of Denali National Park 

10 within, along, or near the approximately 7-mile seg11 ment of the George Parks Highway that runs 

12 through the Park; and 

13 (2) any distribution and transmission pipelines 

14 and appurtenances that the Secretary determines to 

15 be necessary to provide natural gas supply to the 

16 Park. 

17 (c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A permit authorized 

18 under subsection (b)— 

19 (1) may be issued only— 

20 (A) if the permit is consistent with the 

21 laws (including regulations) generally applicable 

22 to utility rights-of-way within units of the Na23 tional Park System; 


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1 (B) in accordance with section 1106(a) of 

2 the Alaska National Interest Lands Conserva3 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 3166(a)); and 

4 (C) if, following an appropriate analysis 

5 prepared in compliance with the National Envi6 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

7 et seq.), the route of the right-of-way is the 

8 route through the Park with the least adverse 

9 environmental effects for the Park; and 

10 (2) shall be subject to such terms and condi11 tions as the Secretary determines to be necessary. 

12 SEC. 303. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION RE13 PORTING ON IRANIAN IMPORTS OF REFINED 

14 PETROLEUM PRODUCTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Energy 

16 Information Administration shall submit to Congress a re17 port, which shall be updated periodically, that, to the max18 imum extent practicable, describes— 

19 (1) the annual volume of refined petroleum prod20 ucts imported to and exported from Iran; 

21 (2) the identity and national origin of persons 

22 selling and transporting refined petroleum products 

23 to Iran; 

24 (3) the sources of financing for imports to Iran 

25 of refined petroleum products; and 


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1 (4) the involvement of foreign persons in efforts 

2 to assist Iran in— 

3 (A) importing advanced technology to up4 grade existing Iranian refineries; 

5 (B) converting existing chemical plants to 

6 petroleum refineries; or 

7 (C) constructing new refineries. 

8 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The reporting requirements 

9 under subsection (a) shall remain in effect until the date 

10 on which the President determines that all economic sanc11 tions imposed by the United States with respect to Iran 

12 have been lifted. 


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Calendar No. 144 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 916 

[Report No. 112–64] 

A BILL 

To facilitate appropriate oil and gas development 

oil and gas, and for other purposes. ence of the United States on foreign sources of on Federal land and waters, to limit the dependAUGUST 30 (legislative day, AUGUST 2), 2011 

Reported with amendments 


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